Rudel: Lions should appreciate their ‘ticket’

Commentary

December 6, 2011

Some Penn State players got loose on their Twitter accounts and expressed dissatisfaction over the program's fall to the TicketCity Bowl.

Did the players deserve to play in a higher-profile game?

Absolutely.

Article Photos

Mirror photo by Patrick?WaksmunskiRunning back?Silas Redd tweeted Sunday he’s “excited to play against Houston and hopefully cap off this roller coaster of a season with a big win.”

Is it understandable that they fell?

ABSOLUTELY.

It's surprising that they apparently didn't understand that or weren't prepared for the inevitable - that lesser teams would be taken because sponsors didn't want to be aligned with Penn State this year.

Or maybe they temporarily forgot Twitter has no filter.

Given the negative national publicity that has surrounded the Jerry Sandusky/Penn State scandal, the players ought to be thankful for the TicketCity Bowl and a pretty intriguing matchup with a high-powered Houston team.

Consider: On the day before the TicketCity would announce its choice, Penn State's name was being further dragged through the mud when Sandusky decided to do a sitdown with the New York Times.

Based on that, can you really blame Meineke, which makes more money selling mufflers than it does catering to college football teams, for backing off?

To be sure, Dallas - remember last year's Super Bowl weather - is not the same reward as a trip to Florida.

But the Lions' bowl site is much less unfair than the situation the players found themselves in after the Penn State administration, with eight months notice of the pending allegations, appeared to be taken off-guard by the depth of the scandal.

That's where the blame lies - not with the bowls, many of which are already losing money.

You can be sure interim coach Tom Bradley, who has a Twitter account himself, will quickly nip any further negative feedback from the players.

Random thoughts ...

* I voted for Robert Griffin III for the Heisman Trophy on this logic: Not only were his numbers off the chart (72 percent completion percentage, 36-6 touchdown-interception ratio), but he did more to raise the level of Baylor football than the other candidates did with better supporting casts at places like Alabama, Oregon and even Stanford.

* Mike Ditka had the best line about the LSU-Alabama rematch. He wondered if LSU loses whether there will be a third game to decide the national title.

* With victories over No. 2 Alabama and No. 3 Arkansas, over Georgia in the SEC title game (in the Georgia Dome) as well as non-conference victories over Oregon (neutral site) and at West Virginia, if LSU rolls the Tide, it will be the most deserving national champion of all time.

* I would rather see Oklahoma State play LSU but must admit Alabama appears to be stronger than the Cowboys. Then again, had it beaten Iowa State - on the night after Oklahoma State's women's basketball coach and assistant were killed in a plane crash - Okie State would be in the BCS final. And we'd get to hear that Mike "I'm a Man!" Gundy rant a few more times.

* See where three Pitt assistant coaches are leaving Todd Graham's staff. That didn't last long.